Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Alan Vengel is the founder of Vengel Consulting Group, a global firm that has helped hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies improve employee performance and boost overall organizational success. He is the author of The Influence Edge: How to Persuade Others to Help You Achieve Your Goals and coauthor of Sprout! Everything I Need to Know about Sales I Learned from My Garden. Vengel lives in Northern California.

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20 Minutes to a Top Performer

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Contents

Chapter One

coach \ kch \ v. to train intensively as by instruction and demonstration; n. one who instructs or trains a performer or team of performers; a private tutor

When leaders use the wrong tone of voice—a voice that's tentative and unclear—they give signals to everyone else, and, as a result, teams can get off course quickly. As these signals spread from top to bottom, suddenly it becomes okay for the rest of the team to be tentative and vague as well. It's easier for everybody; if no one knows what the stakes really are, then they can't really be all that high, and we can all relax.

Coaching is the opposite of vague; it's about clarity—for you, for the organization, and for your people. In his work writing about corporate courage in such books as Right Risk and Courage Goes to Work, author Bill Treasurer talks about a concept called "Jump First," which means that leaders need to set the standard when it comes to clarity. In other words, they need to be good role models for the kind of behavior they want their team to exhibit.

Unfortunately, this continues to be a companywide issue across the country. According to Lake Research Partners, a leading public opinion research firm, "Employees don't know where they stand on what their leaders think about their performance. The research also states that employees not only don't get the feedback to improve performance but 33 percent state they don't get the recognition for any success!"

If a leader is wishy-washy when it comes to feedback and recognition, his team will be wishy-washy about expectations and performance. If a leader is direct and to the point, providing both feedback and recognition, her team will come to see this as standard operating procedure and will rise to this level as well.

Author Ferdinand Fournies collected information on thousands of leaders and managers and concluded that there are several reasons why employees do not get the results they are looking for. The number one reason? Employees don't know what they are supposed to do! (And a close second: they don't know why they are supposed to do it!)

An October 2008 Wall Street Journal article cites research by the Hay Group detailing what leaders need to do to manage more effectively, especially if they tend to micromanage. These findings support the following three principles of quick, focused conversations that you will learn, practice, and master in 20 Minutes to a Top Performer:

1. State clear expectations. This saves time and helps people know what success looks like.

2. Encourage questions and suggestions. This gets all parties involved in solutions.

3. Offer constructive feedback. This ensures that employees can hit the target.

So the tone of your 20-Minute Coaching Conversation must be clear and to the point; clarity should be first and foremost. The leader is demonstrating how coaching communication should be done—leading by example, so to speak. And in the work I have been doing, I have found that leaders do set the tone for the kind of communication that people have with one another. The entire team will pick up on the mindset of the leader.

You can see this research in real time simply by looking objectively at your own office. Is it hectic and frenzied, but competent and efficient? If so, chances are that's your own personal leadership style. Is it ordered and quiet? Loud and coarse? Rude and ambitious? Calm and calculated? The apple doesn't far fall from the tree, and it's important to see the strengths and weaknesses of the team as your own—and vice versa.

Managers really do have a lot of influence on their people, and they are always surprised by how closely they are watched for clues on how to act and behave. People will do as the leader does. Having productive 20-Minute Coaching Conversations sends a clear message to the team that we will be purposeful with our conversations and conscious of their effects.

Few activities are as damaging to pace and progress as unfulfilling conversations. Wasted words spend breath, time, and productivity with little or no return on investment; conscious, active, and clear conversations boost morale and productivity by sending a clearer signal to your people about deliverables and expectations.

Research indicates that not only is coaching becoming less effective, but it's taking longer and longer to produce less and less. In a study by BlessingWhite, a survey of 710 managers found that 33 percent felt that "coaching is too time-consuming." In a global survey, up to 42 percent of 2,000 managers around the world indicate that coaching is taking too long. Time is precious; 29 percent of leaders complain that they just have too many direct reports for time- intensive coaching.

I know what you're thinking: "With all that's on my plate, with as many employees as I have, now you're telling me to hit them up one-on-one for better results? Do you know how long that's going to take?"

I absolutely know how long it's going to take because I've been sharing my 20-Minute Leader philosophy with managers all over the country for years. What I've learned is that the less time you have the more effective you have to make every minute. Trust me, these 20 minutes could pay off in ways that include higher ROI, more effective employees, better sales— you name it.

More specifically, you don't have the time not to do it.

At the end of the day, we are all here to get work done. Creating a winning template for your own 20-Minute Coaching Conversations merely sends the message that you care about productivity to the point of being clear, concise, and compelling in your day-to-day interactions with staff and team members. In turn, they will act accordingly.

Managers who are more open and straightforward in their business dealings build credibility with their direct reports. When they have the courage to say what they need in a direct, no-nonsense manner, people know where they stand and what is expected of them. Again, the key word here is clarity. When the leader is a role model for clear, direct communication, the message to the rest of the team is that we can be clear and direct with one another.

Push Behaviors

Behaviors that help managers be clear and direct are what we call Push behaviors. In other words, they are behaviors that "push" against one another to achieve the desired result of clarity.

In our surveys while conducting research with more than 4,300 managers and employees over the last five years, my colleagues and I have found that more than 73 percent of respondents want two key things from their leaders at work:

1. More direction

2. Direction that is specific and to the point

People really want to know what others want from them, and one of the biggest complaints these respondents had was not knowing what their leaders wanted from them specifically. We have a behavior model that we use to help managers be more specific and direct, and it works around this Push energy. And it's not really as harsh as it sounds—it's really just being able to say exactly what you want.

For example, here are three Push behaviors:

1. Asserting: "I want ..."; I would like ..."; "I need ..."; "You should do ..."

2. Suggesting: "My recommendation is ..."; "Here is my idea ..."; "Let's try this ..."; "Here is my suggestion ..."

3. Reasoning: "I have two reasons for this ..."; "Here is why this is important ..."

The Consequences of Fearing the Push

Some leaders see Push behaviors as being too confrontational or aggressive, but at what price do they risk losing control of their team by not pushing just a little harder for control? For instance, look at this example of what happens when Push behaviors are not used appropriately or when managers are afraid to use Push behaviors because they might be seen as being too pushy.

Jim, an employee, enters his boss, Sharon's, office. "You wanted to see me, Sharon?" he asks.

Sharon replies, "Yes, Jim. I was wondering how the second stage of the project is coming along."

Jim replies a little hesitantly, "Okay, well, we have just the one analysis back from Ben's group, and we're refining the data now."

Sharon looks concerned but replies, "Oh, okay. Well, I guess that's fine. When will you be ready to show it to me and the other team leaders?"

Jim answers, "In about two weeks or so."

Sharon now seems slightly more alarmed. "So long?" she asks, getting a little emotional. "Not any sooner than that?"

Jim explains, "Well, it will take at least two weeks; one of my people is out on vacation."

Sharon sighs. "Well, okay. I just didn't realize it would take so long."

Jim leaves Sharon's office scratching his head and wondering what that was all about. Why was Sharon so upset about his estimated timeline? Did she need the results sooner? Didn't she know that one of his people was on vacation, and that this would delay the results? When she finally said, "I guess it's okay," Sharon didn't seem to really object to its taking two weeks. Despite the odd interaction, Jim leaves the meeting assuming that Sharon is okay with his deadline, and doesn't change anything about how he's getting her the results she wants.

For her part, Sharon leaves the meeting thinking, "I really wanted to show this material to my director by the beginning of next week, Tuesday at the latest. Now it's going to look like my team just can't create the work fast enough. Jim may not be the right person for this job; he just does not have a sense of urgency."

Who was right? Who was wrong? In the end, it's all about results, and this meeting created none of the above. What really happened is that Jim did not get the message about when Sharon needed the data; he hears only that she wanted to know when he would have the project done. If Sharon had pushed more specifically with Jim by saying something clear and specific like, "Jim, I really need those results sooner— next Tuesday afternoon by 3 p.m.," then the two of them could have problem-solved together by generating some ideas and actions that could meet Sharon's needs while giving Jim a specific deadline.

But now Jim is feeling a bit confused about what the meeting was really about in the first place. He's feeling as if maybe Sharon is checking up on him, questioning his time-line and maybe even his judgment—not a good place for a team leader to be in. And suddenly Sharon is having doubts about Jim's ability to do the work. Because she did not use appropriate behaviors, the meeting is misleading and unfair to both parties concerned.

As we can see, the factor that was missing from this confusing meeting was clarity. Push behaviors could have resolved the situation quickly and effectively without ill feelings on either side of the equation.

This is one way to facilitate a 20-Minute Coaching Conversation. Push behaviors cut through the clutter that tends to make otherwise short meetings long. Another aspect of facilitating a 20-Minute Coaching Conversation includes the element of something called Pull energy.

Get 'Em Talking by Using Pull Energy

A sales training expert I know once invited me to sit in on one of her sales seminars. After I had made a presentation to the group, trying out some of the key selling concepts, she gave me some quick, knee-jerk feedback: "Keep it simple, Stupid."

I understood immediately what she meant—I had overcomplicated my short presentation—but I also took slight offense at the "stupid" part of her feedback. It wasn't me she was calling stupid, of course; it was my presentation. Yet in the companies I go to and while working with the participants in my workshops, I have found that these people are far from stupid. In fact, they are some of the smartest people I know.

They know a lot, and, like me in my sales seminar presentation that day, they want to get it all out there. So, again like me, they talk too much about it. After all, they have a lot to say and a lot to share.

Far from being stupid, good leaders are sometimes too smart for their own good. (And yes, being "too smart" can be a bad thing.) Not only do they know what's wrong and needs to be fixed, but they want to fix it too quickly—and (usually) by themselves.

It is said, "May the best person for the job win." And quite often, the leader is the best person for the job. But of all the smart, competent, multitasking, self-starting leaders I've met over the years, there isn't one who can run a company single-handedly. So sometimes knowing the next best person for the job is actually being the best leader you can be.

If leaders identify coaching issues and then solve the issues on their own, they are taking ownership of the solutions—and most of the time this will leave out the employees' opportunity to contribute to the solution.

We know that this does not work well—at least, not if you want true commitment from the members of your team, the kind where they really, genuinely care about the results. And why is commitment to results so vitally important? Because with employee commitment comes shared ownership of the solution.

Without shared ownership of a solution, then it's just your solution, and if it doesn't work, then your solution did not work. With employee commitment and caring about results, the employees are encouraged to take the extra step.

After all, that's what owners do.

So to get commitment, leaders need to stop talking at some point during the 20 minutes of coaching and get employees involved—meaning that they talk and you listen! Are you actually ready for that? Can you be a big enough leader to put aside what you know about the solution and provide ways for your employee(s) to discover it for themselves? This can be challenging, I know, especially when the solution is right there on the tip of your tongue.

Pull energy can help.

Pull energy will open up the conversation and create a free exchange of ideas and understanding—a two-way conversation. You are not just talking at them, giving them orders and reasons—no one will enjoy that. And what's more, that isn't the best utilization of your resources.

You have an employee here, at your disposal, completely ready to absorb or enlighten, for 20 uninterrupted minutes. Who is to say what this employee might add to the conversation? Who is to say what solution might come as a result of this employee's understanding of the problem?

The 20-Minute Leader knows that his or her solution is only one part of the equation; opening up the floor, one employee at a time, is a critically effective means of canvassing the team for unique, effective solutions.

So you are smart, you have a lot to say, you've been around the block, and wisdom and experience are indeed priceless, but now you need to stop, ask questions, and listen. This is you learning, adapting, and growing; this is you being not just the best leader for the job, but also the leader who listens for other ways to get the job done. You must demonstrate that you can do this in real time, and sometimes it will take real discipline and, of course, patience.

The 20-Minute Coaching Conversation goes against everything we've been taught in business school: take over, lead, distribute, challenge, persuade, tell, control, disseminate, instruct, and so on. Instead, you receive, listen, discuss, emphasize, learn, and value; it's beneficial, but it's far from natural—at least, at first.

With Pull behavior, you actively engage the employee, and together you create solutions. The Pull behaviors you may use during your 20-Minute Coaching Conversation are:

1. Asking open-ended questions. Don't fudge this golden opportunity by hedging your bets or asking multiple- choice questions designed merely to bring the employee to your point of view. Instead, ask truly open-ended questions like, "What are your thoughts?" or "What would you do to solve this?" This forces you to sit back and listen even as it forces the employee to think for him- or herself.

2. Active listening. Just as you are not used to listening, your employees most likely will find it a challenge to speak openly. They are looking to you for clues and guidance, and if you are sitting there with a blank expression and letting them talk for 20 minutes uninterrupted, you are merely inviting them to babble. Instead, guide the discussion through active listening. Say things like, "So what you're saying is ..." or "Here is what I am understanding about your idea." This gently prods the employee to keep going without either shutting him or her down or not providing any guidance at all.

3. Drill-down questions. A third type of Pull behavior is referred to as drilling down; this means that you guide a little more selectively by getting to the heart of the matter through a series of leading questions that keep the conversation on track while still eliciting specific employee responses. So you might say something like, "If we need this by next Monday, how would you approach it?" or "What is it about Section Two that worries you?" This way, you are still in a leadership position, and the employee is still offering his or her solid, unique, and personal perspective.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from 20 Minutes to a Top Performerby Alan Vengel Copyright © 2010 by Alan Vengel. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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